ahealthydebate

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Thanks to KvanHorn

One of the reasons for writing this blog is to highlight research into the effects of massage on certain health conditions. I think it’s important to publicise this research for three reasons:

• So many people just associate massage with being pampered and don’t know about the health benefits it can bring.  If you want me on a soapbox, this is the subject to choose! It infuriates me that massage is seen as nothing more than pure self-indulgence, as if looking after yourself is really pushing the boat out. A good meal that is prepared from fresh ingredients tastes great as well as being nutritionally beneficial, but do we think of that as pampering? No, of course not. It’s simply one of the steps we take to lead healthier lives. We need to get away from this idea that if something tastes/looks/feels good it’s probably bad for you. Massage feels great AND it can be good for you, as this research will show.

• With the current debate across the pond about healthcare reform and the continuing calls for better self-care in the UK, it makes sense to explain how massage therapy fits into the overall picture and it’s not good enough just to give you my opinion on the subject. What’s required are facts, so facts you shall have.

• Showcasing the research into massage acts as a rebuttal to all the sceptics out there who seem to think that all complementary therapists are peddling snake oil. It’s just not true!

I will credit the research and supply links for those of you wanting more information. Similarly, if you become aware of new research which slips through my net or you want to know about a massage research into a particular condition, just leave a comment so all our readers can benefit.

Thanks to Cheesy42

So, here is the first installment in the ABC of Massage Therapy Research.

A is for Anxiety

Anxiety is on the increase in the western world and in the UK alone there are over 7 million people with a clinical anxiety disorder. That is an awful lot of acutely stressed people!

As for the rest of us, we all know what it feels like to be under pressure and how it affects us – you can’t sleep, your heart races, you’re tetchy – so imagine what it must feel like to be like that all the time. Not nice. No wonder then, that high levels of anxiety are associated with heart disease, high blood pressure and even the big C.

The good news is that not all stress is bad. Technically, going for a run or having sex both count as body stresses, but these are “good” stresses. In order to stay healthy, we need to counterbalance the good and bad stress.  Now, after a bad day, how many of you have thought along these lines:

- time to crack open the vino

- I really need a fag

- I’ll buy some chocolate on the way home

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Well these stress management techniques might make you feel better in the short term, but as a long term strategy none of them are going to be that effective.

So here’s the good news, research has been carried out into the effects of massage in groups of people showing high levels of anxiety, namely:

- women with anorexia

- depressed mothers

And the results? Both groups showed a reduction in their levels of anxiety.

And there’s more. Research was carried out on a group of adults who weren’t overly anxious and not only did their residual level of anxiety drop, but their levels of concentration improved.

So, there you have it. Massage is a great way of managing your stress levels.

To find out more visit Miami Touch Research Institute

Sources:

Field, T., Grizzle, N., Scafidi, F., & Schanberg, S. (1996). Massage and relaxation therapies’ effects on depressed adolescent mothers. Adolescence, 31, 903-911.

Hart, S., Field, T. Hernandez-Reif, M., Nearing, G., Shaw, S., Schanberg, S., & Kuhn, C. (2001). Anorexia symptoms are reduced by massage therapy. Eating Disorders, 9, 289-299.

Field, T., Ironson, G., Scafidi, F., Nawrocki, T.,Goncalves, A., Burman, I., Pickens, J., Fox, N., Schanberg, S., & Kuhn, C. (1996). Massage therapy reduces anxiety and enhances EEG pattern of alertness and math computations. International Journal of Neuroscience, 86, 197-205.

The Ostrich Manoeuvre by ClearlyAmbitious

Believe it or not, but finding a picture of an ostrich with its head in the sand is harder than you’d think so an upturned traffic cone in the grass is about as good as it gets (with thanks to ClearlyAmbitious) to illustrate my point. And my point is this: there is a wealth of material on the internet and in the press about so-called pseudo science, but virtually nothing defending the complementary sector against these allegations. Why is that?

Here are some suggestions, but do let me know your thoughts on the subject:

• If we spoke out we’d be defending the indefensible

• Isn’t that the job of our membership bodies?

• I’m fully booked so I don’t need to defend myself or my discipline

• I’m too busy trying to build my practice to worry about the naysayers

• By speaking out we draw attention to a subject we’d rather the public forgot

If you have any information on this subject, links or articles that defend complementary health against the vicious sniping of the sceptics, please let me know. I want to hear it because from where I’m sitting there’s a deafening silence on the matter and I think it’s time we got out of the sand and hit back.

Taken by Moe

Chiropractors are having a rough time of it lately. First they were criticised for claiming spinal manipulation can cure certain conditions in children without offering any scientific evidence to support their assertions, now they are under attack for stifling scientific debate by inappropriately using the UK libel laws to rebuff the criticisms. (If you’re not up to speed on this story, read Simon Singh’s article “The Spinal Trap” and find out about the campaign to change the libel laws at the SenseAboutScience website.

As a massage therapist and blogger about complementary health, it goes without saying that I’m following this story with interest, but what of the complementary health sector as a whole?  The scientific community has been galvinised into action, forcing a very public debate about freedom of speech in science, but the complementary health sector has been conspicuous by their silence. And who can blame them? It’s a dog eat dog world out there, even in the touchy-feely world of alternative health, and if your livelihood is at stake it ’s easy to see how it might make sense to keep schtum until all the fuss blows over.

The problem with that, however self-serving it might seem in the short term, is that the fuss won’t blow over. The issue at the moment is freedom of speech, but once that dies down the debate about the need for evidence in complementary and alternative healthcare will take centre stage again. To my mind, the only way to deal with the issue is to confront it head on, resolve it and move on.

But that’s easy for me to say because for me it’s a no brainer. If complementary therapists want to operate within the field of healthcare with the support of the medical and scientific communities they have to ensure their disciplines stand up to proper scientific scrutiny. Of course, I speak as a massage therapist confident that there is a growing body of research supporting the use of massage in particular medical contexts (visit The Touch Research Institute for more information). If I were a crystal therapist or a reflexologist or even a chiropractor I might feel differently on the matter.

And therein lies the problem: the CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) sector incorporates so many different disciplines, only some of which have been researched, that the only unifying principle between them all seems to be their holistic approach to treatment. It would appear that people like to be treated like human beings rather than clinical subjects and they are willing to overlook the lack of scientific evidence in favour of feeling cared for.

Perhaps this is what really riles the medical profession, the accusation that they don’t really care. On the other hand, it could be that they really do care, so much so that they want to alert the public to the dangers of untested remedies. One thing is certain, there is very little scientific evidence to prove the efficacy of many of the complementary and alternative therapies available today. What proof does exist is largely unsubstantiated, circumstantial and anecdotal and unlikely to pass muster in front of a NICE committee.

So perhaps it’s time for the CAM community, such as it is, to address this issue once and for all. To resist the call for scrutiny does seem suspicious to me. If something is all it’s cracked up to be, why not let it be tested? And if it turns out it isn’t much more than a placebo, as seems to be the case with homeopathy, well so be it. If individuals continue to support such therapies regardless of the evidence against them, it is their choice to do so and that is something the sceptics must surely accept.

Cyclops Frog, originally uploaded by azrainman.

Once upon a time a Frog came forth from his home in the marshes and proclaimed to all the world that he was a learned physician, skilled in drugs and able to cure all diseases. Among the crowd was a Fox, who called out, “You a doctor! Why, how can you set up to heal others when you cannot even cure your own lame legs and blotched and wrinkled skin?”

Physician heal thyself

Photo by azrainman

When I read today that a chiropractor in the USA has been struck off for claiming to have found a cure for fibromyalgia (Source: Quackwatch.com), I got angry. Why? Because charlatans like Mr Whitcomb give complementary therapists a bad name. News like this gives the medical traditionalists a green light to claim that one bad apple spoils the barrel so it follows that all complementary therapy is quackery and there’s no place for it in 21st century healthcare.

Sure, there are bad GPs and specialist doctors too and they damage the reputation of the medical profession, but the impact is localised because the medical profession is the established, accepted norm for healthcare.  Complementary therapy, on the other hand, is already controversial and in many cases dismissed altogether by doctors, so cases like this have a more generalised negative impact on the sector as a whole.

Most complementary therapists work with integrity and with a genuine focus on their clients’ well-being. Sadly, cowboys like Mr Whitcomb do not.  So let’s look at this case of the “Fibromyalgia zealot” to see if we can identify what makes him a quack so we can try to avoid such people ourselves when seeking complementary therapy.

Mr Whitcomb claimed to have developed the ‘Whitcomb Method’ for treating fibromyalgia with a 95% success rate. This method involved up to three neck manipulations a day, three times a week.

• Quack: the lack of independent verification of the ‘Whitcomb Method’ means clients only had Mr Whitcomb’s word for his treatment’s 95% effectiveness. A new pharmaceutical drug wouldn’t be released into the market until it had been thoroughly tested and the result of those tests verified and made public. That process is costly and time-consuming because we can’t have drugs companies using the public as unwitting guinea pigs, can we? No, that would irresponsible and wrong. Not a problem for old Quack Whitcomb, who seemed quite happy to stroke his ego at the expense of his unsuspecting clients.

• Quack, quack: fibromyalgia is a relatively new and controversial diagnosis and, despite research, doctors have been unable to determine its exact cause. More importantly, there is no known cure, medical or otherwise. Symptoms can include intense pain, particularly around the joints, fatigue, headaches, dizziness, sleep disturbance and depression. As there is no cure, treatment is restricted to managing the symptoms of the condition and given that conventional medicine can only really offer painkillers or antidepressants sufferers sometimes look to complementary therapy to find a more hands-on treatment. Of course, if you are unfortunate enough to be a sufferer of fibromyalgia, you’ll know all of this already, something Mr Whitcomb was almost certainly relying on when concocting his money-grabbing scheme. Such a willingness to target and exploit people who are vulnerable and desperate to find relief from their symptoms is calculating indeed.

• Quack, quack, quack: in order for this incredible ‘treatment’ to work, Mr Whitcomb claimed, patients needed to be seen up to three times a day for up to eight weeks. Kaaa-ching! How he was able to perform so many neck manipulations with all those dollar-signs swimming in front of his eyes will forever remain a mystery, but what seems clear is that he was recommending an excessive number of interventions with a view to making a tidy sum. Now, if you’re working on a physical level it’s clear that regular treatment at regular intervals would be required – think stroke rehabilitation physiotherapy where repetition of movement re-teaches the brain and body how to respond. But the body and brain need time to adjust and process the new information too!  Again, it smacks of cynical exploitation to offer such an intense programme of interventions, without making allowance for an individual’s response.

Now it is possible that Mr Whitcomb stumbled upon something in his chiropractic practice that seemed to be effective on fibromyalgia patients, but that’s where defence of his actions ends.  If he had been a man of any integrity he would have sought to have his findings tested and proved independently and if not through the costly randomised control test method of orthodox medicine then through through the peer-reviewed research columns in relevant journals; he would not have advertised in such vain and brazen terms nor would he have recommended so many interventions, especially when it became clear that they offered little more than temporary relief and in some cases no relief at all.

The worrying part in all of this, is that this man was a professionally registered practitioner which means looking at his credentials alone would have given no clue as to the real calibre of his work.

Based on this case, here’s a reminder of some indications that you may be dealing with a quack:

1. The practitioner is making bold, attention-grabbing claims which cannot be independently corroborated.
2. Whilst everyone else has failed to find a cure or an effective remedy, the cowboy practitioner is offering what looks like a miracle cure – remember if it looks too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.
3. The treatment is costing a fortune and taking up a lot of your time and you’re not getting any discernible benefit from it.

Remember, professional complementary therapists will always work with you as an individual, tailoring their interventions to your needs and your responses rather than offering a block of routine treatments.  If you’re in any doubt at all about the effectiveness of your treatment, discuss your concerns with your therapist who should listen and accept whatever decision you make about continuing treatment. If you are already receiving medical treatment for a particular condition, it is always worth discussing your complementary therapy options with your GP before you embark on a course of treatment.

When you hear the word ‘massage’ and you’re not already a convert, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s one or more of these five very common myths that surround the practice of massage.

Myth 1: Massage is a luxury

If you Google pictures of massage this is what you’ll find.  A beautiful, tanned white woman, covered in a perfectly white fluffy towel, her eyes closed, a gentle smile on her face. There might be a pile of pebbles in the background or an exotic plant or a pile of neatly folded white towels nestling on polished hardwood shelves. Everything about the image speaks of wealth and privilege, of something aspirational and exclusive. In other words it says that massage is not for ordinary mortals, it’s not for the likes of you and me.

Wrong, wrong, wrong! Massage isn’t just for ladies who lunch, it’s for everyone. Yes, you heard right, but just for good measure I’ll say it again: MASSAGE IS FOR EVERYONE because feeling great isn’t just for the rich and famous.

Now, as I’ve said, as a general rule, massage is for everyone, but there are some occasions when a massage won’t be right for you – if you have a fever, an infectious disease or a cold, for instance. If you have a known health problem it is a good idea to check with your GP first that massage is safe for you. More often than not it will be fine, but there are some situations where you’ll be advised to wait until you recover or your condition stabilises before you receive a massage so if you’re in any doubt do check with your GP or specialist consultant.

Myth 2: Massage is expensive

That all depends on your perspective and on how much you value your health and well-being.  It’s true that in the USA or the far east massage costs less per session than it does in the UK, but there again massage is ingrained in these cultures and seen as an essential tool in supporting good health.  A monthly massage could set you back less than your membership to the gym and certainly less than a night on the tiles, so the question you should ask yourself is what price good health?

Myth 3: Massage is  a self-indulgence

Nobody likes to admit they are suffering or under pressure because in our society to ask for help is seen as a weakness rather than a strength. What a pity that is. If more people were willing to evaluate their lives and cherish the things that really matter there might be less stress-related illness.

It makes me cross to hear about companies that still operate a ‘bums on seats’ culture, where long hours and pushing yourself to the limit is praised. If you saw the BBC programme ‘On Thin Ice’ documenting Ben Fogle, James Cracknell and Dr Ed Coats’ journey to Antarctica you’ll know that James nearly ruined the chances of the team reaching their goal because he refused to look after himself and pushed himself too far. His behaviour was selfish because he didn’t think of the team and stupid because he didn’t want to admit he was suffering.

I’m not suggesting we don’t push ourselves and strive to reach further than our grasp because that is the foundation of human endeavour. What I am saying is that in day to day life, not listening to your body, and pushing yourself too far will eventually lead to health concerns. Being ill or overly stressed is bad for you as an individual and bad for your family and friends who will worry about you because they love you. So next time you find you’re not sleeping, or you’re angry and irritable and you think you’re stressed, take a moment to review what you could do to improve the situation. A massage could well be part of your armoury in managing your stress levels.

Myth 4: Massage means getting naked

Contrary to popular belief you don’t have to take your clothes off to benefit from massage. In fact, there are various forms of massage and bodywork which use pressure applied through the clothes. Perhaps the most accessible is Indian head massage, also known as Champissage. This is a seated massage working the head, neck and shoulders and it’s often offered in corporate settings because clients can receive the massage at their desk (though obviously to get the most out of a massage it would be better performed in a quiet space away from the ringing phone and the water cooler chat). There are several other types of bodywork, including Thai massage where there is no skin-skin contact.

Myth 5: Massage is just a way of relaxing and has nothing to do with health and well-being

Not so. Whilst massage can be very relaxing it can also be stimulating and invigorating, but either way there are health benefits associated with massage and bodywork.  Research carried out at the Miami Touch Institute has shown it can reduce pain, alleviate the symptoms of depression and even encourage weight gain in premature babies. Relaxation can mean a drop in heart rate and blood pressure, both of which are key indicators of good health. So don’t knock it as just a pamper session (see myth 1) and remember just because it feels nice, doesn’t mean it’s not good for you.

So to recap, this is what massage is really all about:

1. Massage is for the many, not the few (but check with your GP or specialist consultant first if you have a medical problem)
2. Massage is not expensive if you value your well-being
3. Looking after yourself is a strength and massage may help you do that
4. You don’t have to take your clothes off to have a massage
5. Just because massage feels nice, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have health benefits too.

One final note for some of the men reading this: massage is not a euphemism for sex you pay for!  Massage is a sensory experience so it goes without saying that it is sensual, but that doesn’t mean all massage is erotic or that a full body massage is going to include a hand job.

Admittedly it’s a small minority of men who think this way. Most appreciate the benefits of massage and would never humiliate their therapist by asking for ‘extras’. If you are in the minority, I hope you’ve found this article informative and that you’ll never confuse massage for sex again. And if you’re in the majority – I salute you!

With the rise of pop psychology in the media, therapy has never been so fashionable and we all want a piece of the pie. Not real psychotherapy, you understand, as that would involve a bit of effort on our part and a level of soul-searching most of us either aren’t ready for or don’t really need.  No, this therapy supposedly offers us therapeutic benefits without actually doing anything we wouldn’t be doing anyway.  Thus, everything from de-cluttering your home to shopping for non-essentials to getting your legs waxed is deemed to be therapeutic. So it’s not surprising members of the medical profession get a little twitchy when discussing which therapies are to be funded by the NHS.

As one of the most misused words in the English language, it’s worth returning to the dictionary definition of ‘therapeutic’ when considering the place of therapies in NHS healthcare. Its meaning is given as ‘relating to the curing of disease, curative; contributing towards or performed to improve health or general wellbeing‘ (my italics). If it just said ‘to improve health’ we’d be on solid ground; there could be little argument that a person with a fractured arm might not benefit from physiotherapy to strengthen their arm muscles after six weeks of wearing a cast and not using them at all. But ‘general wellbeing’ is a much woolier concept, which is why stirring risotto is thought by some to be as therapeutic as a 5k run.

Whilst I’m not going to deny there is real pleasure in shopping for new shoes or cooking for friends I think it’s stretching things a bit far to say either is truly good for our health, particularly when such pleasures are entirely subjective. Relaxation is undoubtedly an important part of supporting good health, even more so in a world where so many people feel stressed out, but by confusing downtime with formalised programmes of therapeutic activity we’re in danger of forfeiting genuinely health-promoting therapies in the NHS.  When faced with decisions about funding, it is easy for managers to dismiss the therapeutic benefits of massage, art or dance when the world at large considers splurge-shopping to be retail therapy.

Not a lot, you might think – I say complementary, you say alternative, but essentially we mean the same thing. Or do we?  ‘Alternative’ implies a choice between two things, whilst ‘complementary’ suggests two things running in conjunction with one another. Thus ‘alternative healthcare’ means an entirely different approach to conventional medicine, whereas ‘complementary healthcare’ means treatments that can be used alongside conventional medicine.  On closer examination, the meanings are significantly different, yet they are still seen as interchangeable, both in the media and the population at large.  There are various reasons for this, but for now I want to address the most pernicious: the classification of a treatment or therapy made purely on the politics of the individual.

There are some people who place their faith in the body’s ability to heal itself and believe that modern medicine isn’t as effective as it’s cracked up to be.  They say that the drugs doctors prescribe cause more harm than good and they’re better off sticking with natural remedies.  The problems with this alternative approach to healthcare are many and varied and I’ll look at them in more depth in later posts, but the argument that leaps front of mind first off is this:  if natural remedies are so effective, why did so many people die of diseases like measles, cancer or chicken pox before modern medicine discovered things like antibiotics and chemotherapy?

In contrast, a complementary practitioner takes an altogether more pragmatic approach, accepting the vital role conventional medicine plays in treating disease and advocating the prescription of some natural remedies under certain circumstances. No sane person is going to claim that massage therapy can cure cancer, but to say that massage can alleviate the pain associated with cancer and its treatment is both reasonable and proven. Similarly, a person with a stroke may be treated conventionally with blood thinning drugs whilst also receiving acupuncture to facilitate their physical rehabilitation. In other words, complementary healthcare is appropriate in treating certain aspects of a particular condition, but not to the exclusion of conventional medicine which may be better placed to address other aspects of a disease.

If you’re in any doubt about the logic of this, watch this hilarious sketch by Mitchell and Webb who succinctly demonstrate the insanity of an alternative approach to healthcare.